.45-70 Big Power At Close Range

Shooting Times ^ | May 1997 | Rcik Jamison

[45Auto]

High in the Oregon Cascades, I squinted into a wet, blowing snowfall for the antlers of a bull. I could see elk moving through a couple of gaps in the young fir trees about 60 yards away, when I caught sight of a bull. I flipped the cover off my scope lens and waited for the bull to show in the next opening.

As the bull reappeared, I could see antlers distinctly through the brush. I shouldered the rifle and tried to look throught my scope, but the lens was covered with wet snow. I swept it off quickly with a wet, gloved thumb. When I looked up, the bull had passed the opening and was out of sight.

That was not the first time that happened to me. I've lost game several times because a scope was rendered useless by either rain or wet snow. Thinking back about my elk hunting during the last few years in this wet, thick-wooded region, nearly all shots have been less than 100 yards. All this got me thinking about changing my rifle choice.

One hunter I know bought a Marlin .45-70 for elk and fitted it with a receiver peep sight. He was so successful with the cartridge and receiver sight that several of his friends bought the same combination. Local hunters also reported one-shot kills with the 350-grain Hornady roundnose and 400-grain Speer flatnose bullets in handloads. The performance of these bullets on elk-sized game was reported to be awesome.

When you think about it, it makes alot of sense. The rifle/cartridge/sight combination seem like a good match, particularly for elk under these conditions. Big heavy bullets have the mass to deal a powerful blow to an elk even after passing through a fair amount of heavy ferns and light brush. And what better cartridge is there for big bullets than the .45-70?

Iron sights are plenty good for the effective range of the cartridge and the relatively short shooting distances encountered in dense brush and timber. So I decided to give the old .45-70 and a new Marlin Model 1895 chambered for it a chance. The Marlin Model 1895SS is an easy-carrying fast-cycling lever gun. I knew from past experience with lots of Marlins in other calibers that these rifles are plenty accurate.

While everything so far sounds good, there are clinkers in this peep sight and .45-70 plan. First, while a good receiver peep sight is fast to use, there is no denying the fact that a scope gathers light and is a better performer under low-light conditions. An optical sight works earlier and later in the day.

Second, many middle-aged shooters have a problem with iron sights due to far-sightedness.

Third, the .45-70 is loaded mild at the factory, and rightly so, in deference to the old and weak actions are chambered for this round, so if you want high performance from this cartridge, it's a handloading proposition.

SAAMI specs on the .45-70 call for 28,000 either in pounds per square inch (psi) or copper units of pressure (cup). On the other hand, Marlin's lever actions are known to be strong rifles. Marlin's own .444 round, for example, carries a pressure spec of 42,000 psi, same as the .30-30 Winchester. The newer .356 and .375 Winchester cartridges, rounds the Marlins have been chambered for in the past, have maximum pressure standards of 52,000 cup and psi.

SAAMI/ANSI specifications are relatively mild for the .45-70 cartridge in general, handloading manuals have separated .45-70 data into catagories that match the various rifle action strengths. Nearly every major loading manual has plenty of good data developing pressures specifically for the strong Marlin rifles.

I shot several varieties of factory ammo and its performance could be safely exceeded with good handloads in every instance with the Marlin rifle. So, while SAAMI standards limit factory load performance, this is not a problem for a handloader with a strong Marlin and reliable shooting data.

Fourth, the .45-70 shoots large diameter, blunt bullets at relatively low velocity. While these are killers at close range and great for busting through brush, they make for a lot of drop at any distance. The blunt bullets with poor ballistic coefficients (B.C.) not only drop a lot over short distances, energy is also rapidly dissipated for the same reason - blunt bullets. I was interestd to see the downrange drop and energy figures after I determined the velocity to be had from the loads in my rifle.

Putting the .45-70 To The Test

I figured that iron sights were plenty good for 200 yards, and I like to hit an elk with 1500 foot-pounds (ft-lbs) of energy. While shots are generally close, I want to be able to take an elk out at 200 yards in case the opportunity presents itself. Would the .45-70 shoot flat enough and have enough energy to do it?

Just for test purposes, I mounted a Tasco 1.75-5X scope on the new Marlin. I figured a more honest load comparison could be had with the greater sighting precision of a scope. The scope could be taken off, and the iron sights mounted, after I completed the accuracy testing and settled on a hunting load.

Four factory loads were fired from Federal, Remington, and Winchester. Five bullets and eight powders were tried in handloads. I experimented with several propellants including VV N130 and N133, AA 2495, 2015, and 2520; Varget; H322; and RL 7. As it turned out, my chosen hunting load was 50.0 grains of RL 7 with bullets weighing 300 to 405 grains, which are plenty heavy for elk.

With the components selected, loading and shooting soon revealed the performance of the handloads with my lots of components in my rifle. The highest velocity loading fired during the test series was 2173 fps from a 300-grain Hornady hollowpoint ahead of 61.0 grains of W N133. The case was a Winchester, and the primer was a Remington 9 1/2. The same 300-grain Hornady hollowpoint loading produced the greatest energy at 3145 ft-lbs.

[45Auto]

I think Barnes makes a 400 grain spitzer-type bullet in .458. That bullet requires a special seating plug in RCBS dies. Top-end loads from the Speer Manual and the Hogdon Manual, to be used ONLY in the stronger Ruger #1, the M98 Siamese Mauser, and the Browning falling block, make about 2000 fps and the muzzle energy is close to low-end .458 Win Mag. Plenty of recoil also.

[in the Arena]

.45-70 at Two Miles: The Sandy Hook Tests of 1879

RIFLE MAGAZINE, NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 1977

[harpseal]

It comes from the factory with the compensator. It takers full power hand loads and it is a sweet shooter.

[45Auto]

See it here:

Sandy Hook

[Shooter 2.5]

Thanks guys. I bookmarked it.

[MarkL]

One of John Taffin's famous "Taffin Tests" is about heavy loaded .41 magnum. I have actually made up some really nice 260 grain BRP hard cast copper gas check rounds and fired them in my Blackhawk. They have about the same recoil as the .44 mag.

That's the sort of thing that I was talking to JD Jones about, but after talking with some friends, they said "If you're looking to get .44 performance, why not buy a big Ruger to spare the S&W, and get a .44 so you can really go overboard! So, I did! lol

Mark

[FlyVet]

A real gentleman.

I'll bet he was. There was always such a matter-of-fact humility in his writings. You knew he was telling the truth. It seems to be a trait of the S'Africans. Gary Player and Ernie Els always come across as real nice people as well. I watched Player at the Tradition in Phoenix several years ago, and he would converse and crack jokes with his playing partners and the crowd with such ease, as if they were his friends. A real class act.

[M.K. Borders]

You came out ahead on that one. A 50-70 is a fairly rare find (at least in as nice as a condition as you describe).

Here is a suggestion if you want to fire your 50-70.
Contact the folks at Friendship Indiana in the HQ of the National Muzzleloading Rifle Assoc. Though not affiliated with the NMLRA, there is a black powder cartridge orgainization that uses the range at Friendship every month. They shoot the 500yrd berm, and they are experts at BP cartridge, particularly trapdoors.

[45Auto]

I shoot a lot of .44 mag as well. And some heavy loaded .45 Colt in a Casull .454 fitted with .45 Colt cylinder. My wrists and hands are beginning to show the effects of years of these rounds, so I have been looking at the .41 mag for a few years. The .41 is heading into obscurity. In fact, it probably was obsolete the day it was introduced, since it was immediately eclipsed by its bigger brother, the .44 Mag. introduced in 1956.

Still, in the Ruger Blackhawk, the .41 mag almost can be safely loaded up to .44 mag levels. The Hodgdon manual lists a 245 grain load for the .41 which is impressive. There is more metal in the revolver cylinders around the cartridge of the .41 mag vs the .44 mag; the .44 mag actually is .429" and the .41 is a true .410", so there is not much difference in the size of the hole, something to which I attribute a lot of importance. Even so, the .44 mag is on the "top of the heap", discounting the stout .45 Colt, the stouter .454 Casull and the "monster" rounds, the .475 and .500 Linebaugh (not to mention the longer Linebaugh Maximums) in terms of retail sales figures. I have recently ordered a custom Blackhawk chambered in .44 Special; John Taffin and some of the old timers still swear by this round (and probably some who swear at it)as being more versatile than the .44 mag; it all goes back to the same old "chicken and egg" argument, i.e., what's better, loading the .44 Special "up" to .44 mag levels or loading the .44 mag "down" to .44 Special levels?

For me the argument is unimportant, the better to have one of each in the safe. On an esoteric level, one could say that it is not a good idea to shoot a lot of .44 Special in the guns chambered for the .44 Mag since it could lead to a build-up of residue in the chamber just behind the chamber mouths and that this could lead to difficulties when subsequently chambering .44 mag rounds. Shooting the shorter .44 Special round in guns chambered for the .44 Mag means that the bullet has to jump further to reach the lands and this, in turn, could effect accuracy. But, then, we are talking about pistols with 7 inch or less barrel lengths that have an effective range of less than 50 yards.

[Shooter 2.5]

Thanks. I had contacted Dixie Arms at the time and I do have a mold and 50 empty cases. I just haven't thought about it in some time. I checked and my friend fiveshooter said that the 50's are making a come-back and I should be able to find a set of dies for it.

[SevenDaysInMay]

Such beautiful women, fit to protect their children as God intended. When their man falls in battle, the woman is all that stands between life and extermination.

That is what life, liberty, and joy is all about.

I love strong, armed, feminine women; we're meant to protect them.

This lady is a babe.

Americans are too long spoiled with safety at home. Crime threats pale compared to "compelling State interests" of governments.

DNC-Politburo apparatchiks and apparatdudes demand that our families be helpless, for their own safety.

[ezo4]

"I've never fired a 45-70 in a lightweight lever action before"

Just fire it and ignore the recoil...there not all that bad... just load up the hottest round possible and have at it like I do. And Im not a big guy. :0)

[LibKill]

Makes my shoulder hurt just thinking about it.

I get the same thing every time I fire my .44 mag. :)

[null and void]

ping

[MarkL]

I know what you mean, although I haven't done that much shooting in the last few years.

My Model 57 is a really sweet revolver. A friend and local gunsmith did a terrific action job on it. I consider myself very lucky, because a number of the guys I used to shoot with are close friends of Ron Power, and they "got me in" to have him do action jobs on some of my other revolvers after he officially retired.

I only really use my Redhawk for heavy loads in .44Magnum... I've got a S&W Model 629 that Ron did his magic on (though I bought it used... He didn't build it for me), but he did do a great action job on my 625-5. I don't like putting heavy loads through my "worked" S&Ws.

I can't remember the exact load I used, but I loaded a terrific light .44 mag load using Scott Powders... Although the Royal Scott was good, I really liked light loads with the Solo powders. I don't remember which one, but the load I used for shooting bowling pins had a 240gr LSWC bullet moving at about 750 fps. It was a really light load, with almost no recoil, and the Scott Solo powders were very clean burning. It was a great "pin" load.

Although shooting pins (slowly) with a 180gr SJHP and (IIRC) about 29 grains of H-110 or 296 was quite exciting, both at the revolver, as well as at the pin!

Although this photo isn't of my Grand Master (and it's a .357 too), mine is pretty close...

Mark

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Load it up with .44 specials (not magnums). A big S&W frame will become friendly again (on your side of the gun, anyway).

[Quilla]

I occasionally shoot a Browning 1885 model, single shot, 45-70. I has an octagonal barrel, peep site, and breathtakingly beautiful wood. It's one of my favorites.

[Quilla]

Oops, meant to say "It has an octagonal barrel" - I certainly don't. ;-)

My apologies.

[LibKill]

Load it up with .44 specials (not magnums). A big S&W frame will become friendly again (on your side of the gun, anyway).

Yep. Thanks for the tip. Seriously, I always practice with .44 specials and only load mags for the last 12 rounds, just to keep in practice.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I own a very nice Python that has seen fewer than 100 rounds. The blue still looks a quarter inch deep and its been in a holster less than a dozen times.
This banger is so nice I can't see shooting the hell out of it and have acquired a Trooper for weekend blasting. Call me a sentimentalist, but since these are no longer in production, I'd like to keep it at 98 percent.